Category: Workshops & Training

** For confidentiality reasons i am not allowed to discuss or share online what i have been taught on the workshops so i will just be showing examples of how they have improved my work **

Since attending Jillian Greenhill’s newborn workshop, The Newborn Retreat, Dewdrops Real Time Workshop & Kelly Browns Newborn Bootcamp i feel like i have improved, but i am still not creating the images i want to. I want to increase my vintage prop collection because thats the type of style i am drawn to and i feel like i have still got a lot to learn about the editing process to really take my images further. And my confidence in posing has improved a lot but i think i would benefit from a refresher course at some point so i have started saving up for that.

Below is one of the images from the workshop where Jillian set up & posed the baby and then we photographed them (the images are unedited) and then i have put my own recent work below to it as a comparison to show how i’m using the techniques in my current work.

Jillian Greenhill – Workshop Image (Unedited)

Calla Lucia – Recent Newborn image – Perfect Moments Photography

Amy McDaniel Dewdrops Photography Real Time Workshop

Aniela Elsie – Recent Newborn image – Perfect Moments Photography

Image from Heidi Hope – Newborn Retreat | Going With The Flow

Aniela Elsie – Recent Newborn image – Perfect Moments Photography

Image from Kelly Brown – Newborn Photography Bootcamp

Ieuan –Recent Newborn image – Perfect Moments Photography

I am really pleased with how i am improving….but there’s always room for more 🙂 And i know that what i should be doing now is concentrating on getting my work noticed and i hope by doing my Dissertation on Creative Marketing it will help me with attracting more of the clients that i want.

In 30 minutes he showed us so much, he is great to watch and has so much enthusiasm for what he does.
He had a model standing in front of a matte black Lastolite backdrop, to begin with he used One Pixapro strobe with a small octobox very close to her on a 45 degree angle.

This gave very nice results, of light across her face with shadows on the other side and there was no spill onto the backdrop. When i have used my studio strobes and placed them in this set up I always have an ugly spill of light on my black vinyl backdrop which I have to correct in photoshop afterwards do I was very interested to find out why this didn’t happen with him. He went through a process of using different props like flashlights….

…smoke / wind but his lighting pretty much stayed in the same distance from the model he just moved it around her and his camera settings stayed the same F8, 1/250, ISO 200.

His images SOC appeared on the screens either side of the stage and they were incredible, and they looked like magazine quality and they hadn’t been edited.

So after the show we went to speak to Gavin to pick his brains about our set up and he suggested it could be a mixture of different things – our backdrop might not be matte enough and that is why it’s giving off a glare, we might need to move our light closer to the subject because the inverted square rule might apply so the closer it is to the subject the darker our backdrop will appear & to try feathering our light more. We really appreciated him giving us his time and some pointers and we can’t wait to get in the studio this week to practise!

I travelled to Manchester for Jillian Greenhill’s Newborn Posing Workshop at Newborn Baby Posing Limited, this was a big investment for me but it really focuses on the area that i want to excel in so i needed to do it to help me move forward.

As this is a public blog i can’t go into detail with what we learnt on the course but it was brilliant and covered everything from marketing – client prep before the session – the session – safety – posing – editing – sales.

Jillian enforces how important safety is when you are putting a baby in any pose and you must have a spotter nearby whether it is an assistant or Mum or Dad. And this is something that is my top priority when i photograph anyone’s baby.

This course helped me so much and gave me a much wider insight into how i should run my business. I also received a Newborn Posing Certificate which i can proudly display in my studio.

** I also spent a small fortune on outfits and props from their shop (whoopsies) **

Here is one of the images i took and then after i’ve edited in Lightroom & PS.

I have been a huge fan of Sarah Janes Photography for years, particularly her wedding photography which is very romantic, candid, caught in the moment style. So when i seen that she was offering Posing Workshops i jumped at the chance! Kamila and i both went along to her studio and we were among a small group of lady photographers who were attending. She is such a lovely person and straight away made us all feel at ease. We all sat and told a little bit about ourselves and she talked about her journey starting off being a second shooter for another wedding photographer for years, shooting on film before she moved to digital and went on her own.

She had arranged a model Samantha Ramsey, for the day who was having her hair done and make up by Mandy Rigby.

First she explained where to position your subject in regards to the light source (window light) and which angles & positions are the most flattering. One thing she did was constantly talk to Sam, there’s was no long silences which is when your client can feel lost in front of the camera.

Directing someone into poses is definitely one of my weakest areas, but it is something i need when posing brides on their wedding day and i think this workshop really helped me understand what i need to do to make the client feel at ease in front of the camera through gentle directions….. i just need to practise now!

When i decided i wanted to focus specifically on newborn photography it was Kelly Brown that influenced me the most. I love her work, from the way she makes her clients feel the moment they walk through the door, to the natural earthy colours & props she uses to the beautifully edited images. She is calm & professional and makes the whole experience special from start to finish. This is something that i want to provide, i want people to invest in beautiful imagery of their babies and in return i want to give them a luxury experience.

I would LOVE to do one of her 2 Day intensive workshops where she covers everything from safe work practice, posing through to the editing , products & client delivery. These cost $2000 and i would have to travel to Australia for it so at this time it is not an option for me 😦 I have contacted her and asked if she would ever be running an of these in the UK and if so can i be top of the list 😀

She is at the SWPP in London in January 2017, where she will be participating in seminars and is running a short class….but by the time i had found out about it there was no spaces left.

I am a huge fan of Creative Live and the resources that they provide for photographers are brilliant, you can watch free broadcasts and also buy the full courses if you wish. Last year i managed to watch a couple of the Newborn Photography Bootcamp by Kelly Brown and it was amazing but i couldn’t afford to buy the full course then. I bought it a couple of weeks ago and have started watching the course, it was run over a 4 week period and there is so many incredible videos as well as class materials, documents & guides. Once i have finished the videos i am going to begin to work through these and adapt them for my business.

Kamila and i were so excited for this day, she had been before and i was meant to go the year previously but couldn’t because of my children being poorly…so i was super hyped!! And it didn’t disappoint, it was like an Aladdin’s cave!

We walked (occasionally ran) around trying to get to see everything on our list but didn’t manage it in the slightest because we got drawn into stalls with luxurious albums and baby prop stands and equipments stands so we missed some of the talks we intended to see.

When we arrived we just caught the end of Helen Sloan on The Nikon Stage and i was DEVASTATED to have missed this one..not only does she shoot with all the best Nikon cameras – Two DF’s for her on set landscapes, D3’s, D4 and a D800 for her Studio Photography and her main lenses are the 24-70, 50 and 85 1.4 is her favourite. She is the Game Of Thrones photographer and that is my ultimate favourite Tv series so she is a bit of a hero to me….and a lucky woman 😀

We caught some of the other talks but the main one for us was Lara Jade on the Canon Stage, she is amazing i love her fashion work. They had a model on stage in front of a texture patterned pop up background and she demonstrated how she photographed her, using a large octabox and in front of that another light with a beauty dish on it. her photos were tethered to the projector screen for us all to see and her results were amazing straight from the camera….so much so that i went out and bought the same lighting set up…..yes i am easily persuaded! ha

The day was awesome and we nearly got a hotel so we could stay the next day but managed to pull ourselves from there and can’t wait to go next year!

This year I am putting everything I have – time and money to better myself in the areas I want to focus on which is posing and marketing so I have invested money in two different workshops. One in April, with Sarah Janes Photography. She is based in Chester and I have followed her work for years, she covers weddings with her husband and she also has her Red Shoe business which is for womens portraiture. I love the way she makes women look so comfortable and at ease in their photographs, their natural beauty and personality really shines through and this is something I would like to learn more about.

I have booked myself a place on a newborn photography workshop in Cheshire on the 17th July, this is quite an investment but I hope to get a lot out of it. It is hosted by the very talented Jillian Greenhill –

She is an award winning newborn photographer and her photos are amazing and the standard that i would like to produce. The course covers newborn posing, safety, editing and marketing so i’m hoping this will be very valuable for me. Everyone that has done her course previously has said that it has excelled their business. I have already been doing some newborn work but I would like to back it up with more tuiton and certification.

Any qualifications I get will be put on my website and I think that they will be extra reassurance of my experience and capabilities for my clients.

I have just ordered my tickets for the Newborn Photography Show in May, i haven’t been to one before so i am really looking forward to it….tons of stalls with props and clothing and equipment to nose through yey 😀

They are also running a competition to win TNPS Photographer Of The Year….and it’s a long shot but i am going to enter this one! I have until April 30th to get my image so i might submit one i already have or wait to see what others i get before then i’m not sure yet, I am in the middle of making lots of new outfits to use so i might just hang on a little longer!

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I attended the Newborn Photography Show with Kamila, it was a brilliant day out there was so many vendors there and i was able to have a look at all the different newborn props and accessories that were available … and also spent a small fortune on them!

We needed to find an album supplier and that was one of the most important things to do that day so that we could get samples ordered and ready for the opening of our Studio in July. After looking round all of them we fell in love with the products from Koylab, they had a beautiful finish and were really good prices so we have chosen them to order all our samples from.

The week before christmas i was contacted by a lady who wanted to have photos of her newborn baby along with her little boy and daughter. She was concerned about having photos done because she wasn’t sure how we would do it because her daughter has cerebral palsy and is unable to sit up.

I did some research before telling her that i would be happy to do it and would find away to make the situation work to her advantage.

So after i read up about children with cerebral palsy –

I set my studio set up with comfort and safety in mind. I cleared my living room and put a big fluffy rug, cushions and blankets for her to lie in the middle of and some music on to listen to when i was doing the baby’s photos.

Knowing that she would need to be lying down for her photos i had to make a padded area with a fluffy blanket that they could all lie on together so that i could take a photo of them from above.

I had Kelly Browns images in mind for this –

Because it would be flattering for them all rather than to try and prop them all up together.

It was a challenge because she can’t lie still and her arms didn’t stop moving and clawing at her face and she had to be carried everywhere, between her mother, father and Gran who had come along to help they were amazing and the whole situation really pulled at my heart strings because it must be so hard and i had to swallow a lump in my throat throughout the session….yet her beautiful little smile made all the struggle melt away.

The mum kept saying it was fine if i didn’t manage to get a decent image of the 3 of them together and that she would be happy with separates but i was determined to make that happen…with the help of the wonderful photoshop i combined two and she was so over the moon happy with it……..and thats what drives me, that chance to make someone fall in love with a memory is just priceless!